Pensioners enjoying sex life in their 70s

Pensioners are enjoying a good sex life well into their 70s, Swedish research published by the BMJ has found.

Over half of unmarried 70-year-old men said they were sexually activePhoto: GETTY IMAGES

By Rebecca Smith, Medical Editor

12:00PM BST 08 Jul 2008

Women in their 70s are particularly happy with their sex life.

Over the last 30 years the number of 70-year-olds reporting that they have sex has increased among both sexes, the research published online by the British Medical Journal said.

Nils Beckman and colleagues from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, studied attitudes to sex in later life among four representative samples of 70 year olds in Sweden, who they interviewed in 1971–2, 1976–7, 1992–3, and 2000–1.

In total, over 1,500 people aged 70 years were interviewed about different aspects of their sex lives including sexual problems, marital satisfaction and sexual activity.

In the most recent interviews 98 per cent of married 70-year-old men said they had sex but only 56 per cent of married women of the same age said they had sex.